Setting off at lunchtime we headed south to LA, continuing along the Pacific Coast Highway. We would pass through Santa Barbara and Malibu on our way into LA today, so this was a chance to see some of places you always hear about in the Movies.

We filled up the car at San Luis Obispo. A town whose name I can not pronounce and then for quite some time the highway headed away from the coast and we passed through fields where it looked like they were growing cauliflower.

Eventually we reach Santa Barbara and the beaches and palm trees you associate with LA were proudly on display. We headed into the town and to the seafront where we parked and had lunch on the beach.

As we continued on the traffic began to get heavier approaching Malibu and the outskirts of LA

. The road through Malibu and on to LA wound around the mountainside with the beach and Ocean on the other side. There were areas where dozens of RVs had pulled up for sunset picnics and beaches full of people. Malibu itself seemed unremarkable from the Highway and we decided to continue on.

We fought through some of the LA traffic and it didn't take too long before we reached Venice Beach. You could see this was an interesting area immediately: colourful, noisy and bohemian. It's full of almost every member of society you can imagine. Tattoos seemed like a right of passage in this neighbourhood.It seemed like Camden Town near the Ocean.

After unpacking our stuff we headed over to see my brother, sister-in-law and niece who were also spending this week in LA. They had rented a very nice house for the week and we bought some food from the supermarket and ate it next to the outdoor fireplace in their courtyard before heading back to sleep.